Motorists driving in the early morning hours this week may notice 21 wind turbine blades being transported from Quonset to Johnston.
Along with a Rhode Island State Police escort, these 200-foot wind turbine blades will travel from the Port of Davisville up Route 4 to I-95 North and to I-295 North to Johnston. Starting on Monday, there will be three trips a day at 1 a.m., 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m.
Green Development, LLC is in the process of constructing what they are calling the largest onshore wind farm in Rhode Island, which will be comprised of seven turbines on private property near the Central Landfill.
“This is a major step for renewable energy development in Rhode Island,” Mark DePasquale, founder and chairman of Green Development, said in a statement. “There is an enormous amount of planning to get to this stage, but the projects always seem more real when the components begin to arrive. This wind farm will truly benefit Rhode Island by helping to meet our renewable energy goals as well as the Town of Johnston.”
Construction on the 21-megawatt wind farm site has already begun and is expected to be fully operational by the end of this year. The tower portion of the turbines will arrive in October, according to Green Development.
The town of Johnston permitted the project and will receive a total of $140,000 in tax payments over the next 20 years, in addition to $175,000 which Green Development will pay to develop a scholarship fund.
From the base of the tower to the tip of the blade, each turbine will be a little more than 500 feet tall.
